Palm Beach Woos Firms To County

The first of what may be a string of companies fed up with the tight labor market and high wages in Long Island, N.Y., announced on Thursday that it was moving to Palm Beach County.

``Right now we are forced to offer $9 to $10 per hour just to get people in for interviews,`` said Lee Gelobter, operations manager for Brooklyn Bow & Ribbon Co.

``There is such stiff competition for labor that wages have just gotten out of hand.``

Brooklyn Ribbon was one of three firms introduced at a luncheon organized by the Palm Beach County Development Board on Thursday in Boca Raton. The not- for-profit, private organization helps the county`s businesses expand and recruits new employers into the area.

The board sent a delegation led by Larry Pelton, the new executive director, to Long Island earlier this month to visit more than a dozen firms. Pelton predicted that all are evaluating leaving the Long Island area in the next few years to flee high land and labor costs, heavy taxes and congestion.

Family owned Brooklyn Ribbon will make the move after 76 years and three generations in New York. The company was attracted by Palm Beach County`s proximity to the low-wage Caribbean, where the company operates plants in Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Brooklyn Ribbon also expects it can get workers to run and maintain its textile machines starting at $5 an hour in Mangonia Park, Gelobter said.

Brooklyn Ribbon already employs 15 to 20 people in Belle Glade, which has the lowest household income of any city in Palm Beach County.

For The Singing Machine Co., based in Los Angeles, the move to Boca Raton is more of a return home. The company was founded by Florida residents and still has many directors on the East Coast, said Edward Steele of The Singing Machine Co.

With the company`s California lease set to expire, The Singing Machine Co. decided to move, Steele said.

Dixie Treads Inc. was the only start-up venture announced. The company will retread passenger-car and small-truck tires bought from scrap companies and resell them to tire retailers and through mail order catalogs, co-founder Bob McDonough said.

McDonough said he and other Broward residents who are founding the firm will sell their homes and move to Palm Beach County, which will put the company in a more advantageous location for distributing its products.

ON THE MOVE

Companies setting up business in Palm Beach County:

-- BROOKLYN BOW & RIBBON: Custom manufacturer of ribbon trim for apparel industry will move from Lynbrook, N.Y. to 15,000-square-foot building under construction in Mangonia Park. Plans to hire 25 to 35 people in 1991.

-- THE SINGING MACHINE CO.: Markets AM/FM, cassette recorders used to mix voice with music of popular songs. Moving headquarters and up to eight employees from Los Angeles to Boca Raton. Plans to hire 20 to 25 employees by year-end. Also will hire local musicians to record music for cassette library.

-- DIXIE TREADS INC.: Will retread passenger and small truck tires at 5,000- square-foot plant in West Palm Beach. Its founders will move from Broward County to Palm Beach County to open business. Should employ about 20 people by year-end.